Should Middleton and/or McCollum also seek buyouts?

[Bentley1225]

In light of the direction of the Wizards and the respective ages of both Middleton and McCollum, should both guys, one, or neither seek buyouts currently?

I could see neither guy being offered more than full mid levels, 3 year deals (or 2 + 1) next summer so Bird Rights at this point in their careers become irrelevant and the Wizards might want to try to use their deals at trade deadline to try to and extract 2-3 2nd round picks by dealing both of them.

What do you think?

[nate33]

In light of the direction of the Wizards and the respective ages of both Middleton and McCollum, should both guys, one, or neither seek buyouts currently?

I could see neither guy being offered more than full mid levels, 3 year deals (or 2 + 1) next summer so Bird Rights at this point in their careers become irrelevant and the Wizards might want to try to use their deals at trade deadline to try to and extract 2-3 2nd round picks by dealing both of them.

What do you think?

I think the Wizards are happy to have the two of them on the roster to provide stability and leadership, at least through the first half of the season. McCollum is a perfect mentor for Carrington and Tre, who both have strong midrange games like McCollum and they're both natural SG's who have the handle to become PG's but need to learn the position (like McCollum had to).

Likewise, Middleton is a good mentor for the Wizards trio of young forwards: Bilal, Whitmore and Kyshawn (and eventually Riley).

Even if McCollum and Middleton wanted to leave, I think the Wizards would try and convince them to stay, at least through January and then maybe work out a buyout. Middleton in particular should be okay with that because he could be easily load-managed in Washington to save his body for a higher workload during his post-buyout playoff run.

I figure McCollum's primary goal is to showcase himself in a manner that earns him a good contract next summer. He can probably do that as well in Washington as anywhere else. There are still enough minutes for him because the Wizards really only have 2 young guards who are currently ready for regular NBA minutes (Carrington and Tre Johnson). Guys like AJ and Watkins still need some seasoning in the G-League.

[BigGargamel]

Smart is kinda washed up at this point. Not fair to compare his situation with McCollum. CJ still has a lot to offer at this point, whether to a young Wizards team or another team in a trade. I think they could get something for him instead of just cutting him.

[Mavrelous]

Money has dried out, they are vet min players at this stage, so each can take ~3.6M cut to be bought out.
If they want to, they can ask for a buyout, doubt Wizards would say no.
I like CJM in PHX and Mid is Milwaukee

[youngcrev]

I think Middleton would make more sense of the two from Washington's perspective. CJ seems like he has enough juice left that they could maybe squeeze some minor trade value out of him at the deadline if the right opportunity came up. Plus he's got good mentor vibes and seems like he's been a positive influence in bad situations the last couple years.

[nate33]

Smart is kinda washed up at this point. Not fair to compare his situation with McCollum. CJ still has a lot to offer at this point, whether to a young Wizards team or another team in a trade. I think they could get something for him instead of just cutting him.

He has a $30.6M salary though. He's good, but is he worth that contract? I think if the Wizards could have traded him for a an expiring contract and a pick, they would have done so already. I don't think there's a deal out there.

Maybe they'll trade him for a bad 2027 contract and a better pick? But such a trade doesn't have to happen right away.

[BigGargamel]

Smart is kinda washed up at this point. Not fair to compare his situation with McCollum. CJ still has a lot to offer at this point, whether to a young Wizards team or another team in a trade. I think they could get something for him instead of just cutting him.

He has a $30.6M salary though. He's good, but is he worth that contract? I think if the Wizards could have traded him for a an expiring contract and a pick, they would have done so already. I don't think there's a deal out there.

Maybe they'll trade him for a bad 2027 contract and a better pick? But such a trade doesn't have to happen right away.

He's a free agent after this year, so it's just one year. I don't see the point of cutting someone who's still as productive as he is. They might be able to get something for him during the season. Or later on this off season once the RFA's sign and teams know what their cap situations look like. Doesn't make sense just to let him go, for reasons you stated in your previous post.

[nate33]

I think Middleton would make more sense of the two from Washington's perspective. CJ seems like he has enough juice left that they could maybe squeeze some minor trade value out of him at the deadline if the right opportunity came up. Plus he's got good mentor vibes and seems like he's been a positive influence in bad situations the last couple years.

I agree about McCollum. Good player. Good mentor. No reason to buy him out, at least not until February after all trade options have been explored.

The one nice thing about Middleton in this current role is that Middleton presumably is not looking to log 35 minutes a game right now. He'll probably be okay playing 20 minutes a night for a while to preserve his body. So the Wizards young guys can benefit from his mentorship without having to cede too many minutes to him.

I envision McCollum starting and serving as the veteran leader on the starting unit, with Middleton coming off the bench and stabilizing the second unit.

On the other hand, I totally see why they bought out Smart. He's young enough and competitive enough to still want to play and compete. But the Wizards are better off giving those minutes to youngsters.

[jayjaysee]

I think if either asked for a buy out - so that they could sign with a team that will be over the apron - Washington will work with them.

I think Washington should flip them for worse players and whatever asset they can get, though Midds can’t seem to get right unfortunately

[chrbal]

CJ- I honestly wouldn’t. I think he can still be effective as a starter and Washington could potentially get something for trading him at the deadline.

Khris- I could see it go either way, but I don’t see the point.

Washington still needs to have some veterans on the team, and both players are expiring contracts.

Kelly they actually got a pick back and saved money. With Marcus, I’m guessing he had a pretty good idea he could get a good role with a playoff team.

I agree completely with the poster that said the Wizards should try to use their contracts to get more assets for taking on future salary

Now the real big question is what team brings in Blake Wesley?

[daoneandonly]

If we're talking mentors for the young Wiz, AD is the perfect mentor for Sarr. Frame and game.

Middleton, Bilal, and picks. Dallas should then re-route Bilal to a team for a young guard

[winforlose]

If CJ was allowed to talk to teams and try to get some money from those teams he could then pass more buyout saving onto the Wizards. I believe (please correct me if I am wrong which is very possible,) that more teams can sign buyout players during the offseason than the regular season. So in that regard if CJ and the Wiz could find a good alternative set up, it might be in both their interests. That being true, they might also want him for his vet presence and the possibility of moving him as an expiring to take on bad salary and a pick. I just don’t know which is more valuable to the Wiz?

[vxmike]

Smart is kinda washed up at this point. Not fair to compare his situation with McCollum. CJ still has a lot to offer at this point, whether to a young Wizards team or another team in a trade. I think they could get something for him instead of just cutting him.

He has a $30.6M salary though. He's good, but is he worth that contract? I think if the Wizards could have traded him for a an expiring contract and a pick, they would have done so already. I don't think there's a deal out there.

Maybe they'll trade him for a bad 2027 contract and a better pick? But such a trade doesn't have to happen right away.

He's a free agent after this year, so it's just one year. I don't see the point of cutting someone who's still as productive as he is. They might be able to get something for him during the season. Or later on this off season once the RFA's sign and teams know what their cap situations look like. Doesn't make sense just to let him go, for reasons you stated in your previous post.

A contender will offer expiring money for CJ before the deadline. A team like the Lakers has lot of expiring $$ and could do it.

[nate33]

If we're talking mentors for the young Wiz, AD is the perfect mentor for Sarr. Frame and game.

Middleton, Bilal, and picks. Dallas should then re-route Bilal to a team for a young guard

lol. Like the Wizards are going to trade Bilal and picks to get a veteran mentor for Sarr.

[winforlose]

He has a $30.6M salary though. He's good, but is he worth that contract? I think if the Wizards could have traded him for a an expiring contract and a pick, they would have done so already. I don't think there's a deal out there.

Maybe they'll trade him for a bad 2027 contract and a better pick? But such a trade doesn't have to happen right away.

He's a free agent after this year, so it's just one year. I don't see the point of cutting someone who's still as productive as he is. They might be able to get something for him during the season. Or later on this off season once the RFA's sign and teams know what their cap situations look like. Doesn't make sense just to let him go, for reasons you stated in your previous post.

A contender will offer expiring money for CJ before the deadline. A team like the Lakers has lot of expiring $$ and could do it.

Quite possible. But an injury or a quality slide could diminish the value.

[nate33]

He's a free agent after this year, so it's just one year. I don't see the point of cutting someone who's still as productive as he is. They might be able to get something for him during the season. Or later on this off season once the RFA's sign and teams know what their cap situations look like. Doesn't make sense just to let him go, for reasons you stated in your previous post.

A contender will offer expiring money for CJ before the deadline. A team like the Lakers has lot of expiring $$ and could do it.

Quite possible. But an injury or a quality slide could diminish the value.

I don't really think he has any value at the moment given his $30M price tag. He's not a liability that it would take picks to unload, but I don't think he's much of an asset either. If he was, then the Wizards probably would have flipped him.

[winforlose]

A contender will offer expiring money for CJ before the deadline. A team like the Lakers has lot of expiring $$ and could do it.

Quite possible. But an injury or a quality slide could diminish the value.

I don't really think he has any value at the moment given his $30M price tag. He's not a liability that it would take picks to unload, but I don't think he's much of an asset either. If he was, then the Wizards probably would have flipped him.

If the choice is buyout (save 5 million plus if a team gives the TPMLE,) or trade for bad salary and pick, or for expirings and a pick (just depends on their long term plans, I have no opinion,) then the trade makes more sense before the season. My reasoning is if he looks bad or gets hurt, his trade value drops off a cliff. I agree he has little player value, but his contract has value, and his name has enough left on it that some team might take a cheap flyer, especially if they want cap space in 2026.

[nate33]

Quite possible. But an injury or a quality slide could diminish the value.

I don't really think he has any value at the moment given his $30M price tag. He's not a liability that it would take picks to unload, but I don't think he's much of an asset either. If he was, then the Wizards probably would have flipped him.

If the choice is buyout (save 5 million plus if a team gives the TPMLE,) or trade for bad salary and pick, or for expirings and a pick (just depends on their long term plans, I have no opinion,) then the trade makes more sense before the season. My reasoning is if he looks bad or gets hurt, his trade value drops off a cliff. I agree he has little player value, but his contract has value, and his name has enough left on it that some team might take a cheap flyer, especially if they want cap space in 2026.

The way I see it, he currently doesn't have enough value to bring back an expiring contract and a pick. If he did, then that trade probably would have happened by now.

So his only real value as a trade asset is the fact that his contract is expiring and he can probably be traded for a bad 2027 contract and a pick. But if that's the case, then that trade will still be on the table at the Trade Deadline, whether he is healthy or not. So I think there's little downside risk in waiting until the Trade Deadline to make a trade.

There are a couple of other scenarios that could change the calculation:

If McCollum plays so well that the Wizards starting winning too much and hurt their tanking strategy, then they should immediately trade him. But in that scenario, McCollum's good play will have likely boosted his trade value, which means that not trading him this summer would have been the right move.

Another possibility is that some other contending team has a season-ending injury at guard and really needs a replacement like McCollum to keep their title hopes alive. That team wouldn't have paid much for McCollum right now, but would pay more for him mid-season after losing their guard to injury. In that scenario, it was again the right move to refrain from trading McCollum this summer.

[vxmike]

McCollum being seriously underrated here. He’s not worth $30m but he’s still a good player and solid vet. He’s better than a typical buyout guy.

[Devilanche]

Wait until trade deadline . Let McCollum lead the young players for half a season and let Middleton load managed his way to the mid season.

If they ask out then and no trade appear , you can still buy them out then and they will still have their pick of contenders.